There has been conventionally known such electric component sockets (hereinafter referred to as “IC sockets”) as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3206922 and Japanese Patent No. 4916719 described below as this type of electric component socket.
In Japanese Patent No. 3206922, an IC socket is disposed on a wiring board, and houses an IC package therein. A wire probe provided in the IC socket is used to electrically connect an electrode of the wiring board and an electrode of the IC package. The wire probe has ball-shaped contact points formed at both ends thereof, and is embedded in an elastomer material layer in a state being deformed into a predetermined shape.
In Japanese Patent No. 4916719, an IC socket is disposed on a wiring board, and houses an IC package therein. A plurality of contact probes provided in the IC socket are used each to electrically connect an electrode of the wiring board and an electrode of the IC package. These contact probes each include a wire, and plungers provided at both ends of the wire. The lower side plunger is pressed to a connection terminal by a biasing force of the wire, so that the contact probe is electrically connected with the connection terminal of a connection block.